Monday, July 6, 2009

June 2009

Woodville:
In May the Community Foundation of East Texas opened a Life Center account! For now, the money will be collected and used only for the feasibility study. Once the study has been completed and a design has been agreed upon, the account will be used for donations to build the LIFE Center itself. Also, names for a second tier committee were suggested along with potential donors. Things continue to move slowly, but in the right direction. We are scheduled to be out there the first week of July and hope to increase the passion and involvement.

Discovery! Austin:
Discovery continues to hold monthly trainings in Austin and we will be celebrating our one year anniversary at next month’s July training! It’s hard to believe a year has already passed! In June we had our highest number in attendance yet at 47. Also in June, we held our first Relationship Training with 26 couples. Check the “Success Stories” section soon for testimonies from some of the couples. In the meantime, here’s one we received from someone who recently completed the Discovery training on an ALF scholarship:

Words cannot explain how much Discovery has helped me personally! I have never had a sense of peace, happiness, worthiness, and hope as I have after being in Discovery. I am a much more positive person and much more helpful to my family and friends; and I am able to use the tools that I have learned daily to continue to nurture the positiveness that I have gained. I have always dealt with certain issues that I thought were to be my core issues...but coming to Discovery made me face my REAL core issues, and face them and fight them with full force. Dealing with and conquering those issues was the greatest feeling I have ever experienced in my life. It has absolutely changed my life!!Discovery has improved every aspect of my relationships. I am able to be completely open and honest, and not be ashamed or afraid of what others will think of me. That alone makes me a better person; and a more effective friend, daughter, sister, aunt, and girlfriend. I am so much more positive at my job, and I don't let the little things effect me like they used to. I have
found that this positiveness has gotten me so many compliments and accolades than before that it's AMAZING! Discovery has also deepened my spiritual relationship. I am more aware now of my beliefs and the power of my morals and my personal relationship with God.
~ Deborah Toodle


Roatan:
Just back from another visit to the island. We visited the children at the home. They are doing well and most of them just finished with exams. We read books to them and spent some quality time playing and talking together. We bought groceries to fill their cupboards with what they were lacking. They get a lot of staples from others but usually lack fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and with that many children running around… cleaning supplies!

While on the island this time we got to meet Mark and Susan Schuler, a missionary couple who have lived on Roatan for more than 5 years now. They do a lot for the children at the home such as taking them back and forth to school, having them to their home for tutoring and mentoring, doing devotionals and loving on them in general. They have a true heart and passion for not only the children at the home, but the people on the island and in their community in particular.

We also met up with Cam O’Brien. Cam has lived on the island some 17 years and has a passion to help improve education on the island. During our visit we heard about much of what she has been and is trying to do, including the implementation of 2 “E Learning Centers” on the island which are offered free to children (and adults for English as a Second Language) as a way to supplement their learning at school which is often quite lacking for various reasons. After meeting with Cam, we stopped by the E Learning Center in French Harbour to check it out. The kids there that day were practicing for a play they will be performing in late July. It will be performed in English, so we were able to help them with their pronunciation. They were shy, but quite appreciative of our help!

We are excited to be making these connections with others on the island who have a true heart and passion to give back to the children and island of Roatan. We will be developing these relationships and keeping our eyes and hearts open to areas where we feel it’s a fit for ALF to get involved and participate. We are scheduled to go back out there in a few days. We are keeping an eye on the recent political developments of the country, but so far, everything we have seen and heard from people we know on the island and mainland as well as in the news shows that things on the island remain calm and normal and that the tension remains on the mainland. Unfortunately, though, the economic fallout will hit the entire country and the poorest of the poor will be the ones most affected.